Spin Off
by BarbMacK
Summary: A spin off to Speak Now, though can probably be read on it's own. What Rose got up to in the parallel universe leading up to reunion in Speak Now. Jack/Rose, Ten/Rose & maybe even a little Jack/Jack just innocent flirting ; oh and Martha/Mickey.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. Third and final update for this week is the beginning of the new one. For those that haven't been reading Speak Now (sorry, no update for that one this week, still humming and hawing over whether it's good enough to post or not...), this is the Spin Off (hence the very imaginative title ;)) Okay first off, this will have some spoilers to Speak Now. I've tried to limit them as much as possible...but considering this one's set prior to Speak Now, it's probably going to happen at some point...and at times I'm hoping to get to do the same scenes twice but from different angles.**

**Second, the rating. I always hate rating cos never know if it's right. The reason for the high one on this one is due to language, ie occasional swearing (not very often cos I'm not a fan of it in general and even less so in writing) as well as possible sexual hinting...and who knows, if I get up the guts there might be a bit more than hinting (come on, an unDoctored Jack with Rose, what can you really expect?)**

**The reason for this fic was mainly cos while coming up with Speak Now, a backstory for what had happened to Rose while they were separated started to form. Originally it was just going to be small mentions in Speak Now (and one or two in Evil Wish ;)) but the alternate Jack just grew on me, and since he did create a fairly good and fun argument to why his story SHOULD be written, it started coming out. BUT to include it in Speak Now would draw away from that story just a bit too much which is why it gets its own...just like Jack watching Gwen with Rhys while dancing with Ianto, couldn't he tell how much guts it musta taken for Ianto to do that?? Okay so that point had nothing to do with the previous one...that I can think of anyway. But MAN it bugged me!! Yes I know all the Gwen/Jack shippers wanted more, and got an impressive amount in that ep (Something Borrowed (yes I know, you guys have already had the amazing finale in the UK :P)) but STILL!! It woulda been nice to see Jack look at Ianto just a little bit like he had Gwen during their dance!! Although Ianto has definitely become the Quips King!! Wedding fairies, tehehe...**

**ANYway! The opening was how I intended to start a scene in Speak Now to introduce all this. Not entirely sure how that scene's going to work now, or if it even will appear...but if it did, it would be Rose talking to the Doctor on his own...anyway I think that about covers all of it...hope you guys like it. It's a slightly longer intro (lol not even including this long AN!!) than my usual intro chaps, so enjoy :) **

"_I waited. So very, very long I just lived for waiting for you. Then I thought you were never coming back. It kind of just suddenly hit one day, well Davey's birthday, how long I'd waited. That maybe you hadn't just been not wanting to get my hopes up. That maybe what you'd said was true. And it must have been another few years when all I wanted was to be dead. To just stop living...and in a way I did. I mean I was still alive, but that was no life. I lived for Torchwood. Lived and breathed my work. Scared Pete and Mickey shitless at times...I mean they never admitted it, but I could tell. I didn't care whether I lived or died in a mission, and that's not good. But worse, I got cocky, felt like I ruled the place. And that? That almost got Davey killed. So then I went searching. For what I don't even know and then I found something that I thought would truly rip the shreds that were left to pieces...and something to put them back together again...if only a little..."_

It had been about two years since she'd left home. She'd travelled the world over at least twice in that time, never staying too long in any one location. She'd been so absorbed in her work back in London, it came almost as a shock to find other cities, other countries doing the same work in their own ways. Without realising, she'd actually liaised with some of them through Torchwood and just assumed they were part of the company, not their own. Something about it re-surged her enthusiasm, and she found having left, she wasn't looking forward to returning to the UK.

And then Mickey had to go and send her a message. He'd sent it through the offices, and by the time his got to her she was already in Belgium wondering whether to catch the ferry or not. Of course Pete had passed the message onto her three months earlier when she'd still been in South America, but it was for the best that Mickey didn't know she still kept contact. Anything more than letting him know she was alive and well was just asking for trouble these days.

"Tyler?" She was brought back to the present by one of the men. She looked over at him, raising a brow. "Pete wants to know if you want to take the plane or the long way?"

She couldn't help but smile. Trust Pete to have thought of an easier way. "Tell him I'm leaving on a jet plane," she replied, her smile growing as she heard his laughter over the comm unit.

It wasn't long before they were airborne. She rummaged through her pockets till she found the message from Mickey.

Rose

Found old hard drive from destroyed section. Made mention of an office in Glasgow. Would check it out myself but it included a memo from there stating 'Despite earlier problems, alien is now contained'. I've been trying to find any other mentions of it, but no luck so far. Pete and I agree that you're probably best experienced to deal with this. Doubt a fire extinguisher will help on this one.

Hope all's well

Mickey

PS Sorry, it's located on the corner in front of a coffee shop you really won't like

Not a lot to go on but she'd worked with less. She knew Mickey had gained a lot of experience since his 'Ice Gun' days, but it was still funny to remember the mix up. She couldn't help wonder how difficult it would be to break into the office. Everyone forgot that the only times she'd gotten into Torchwood offices prior to working in them she'd arrived inside. But then she had done a fair bit of breaking and entering since then...well she found ways of entering anyway. Jake seemed to enjoy the breaking and entering method.

She needn't have worried about it though. She had no idea what Mickey meant by it's location, but figured as Pete hadn't mentioned it she'd understand once she got there. Sure enough after walking around the city centre for about fifteen minutes, she found it. Or rather Riley, her partner in this mission, found it.

"Oh how corny is that?" he asked, pointing off down the shopping area they were in. "Coppuccino! Isn't that one of those old police boxes?"

Rose whipped around, looking in the direction he was. The sight that met her caused an odd feeling as it felt like her heart had leapt into her throat as well as plummeted at the exact same moment. Sure enough it was a blue police box, but not the one she'd so desperately wished it to be. "Coppuccino," she repeated. Mickey was right - she**really** didn't like this coffee shop.

Without giving it a second glance, she walked into the building on the corner in front of it, thinking the fact it was in a store made it a lot easier than she expected. She checked the floor guide before heading into the lift. As she had expected, there was a second basement that hadn't been mentioned. "What's with always going underground?" she wondered aloud as Riley picked the lock.

"Gotta be grateful to the Daleks for our city views," Riley replied as he worked.

"Oh yeah, I _love_ the Daleks," she mumbled sarcastically. She couldn't hold it against him, he hadn't been with Torchwood long enough to know the full details of Canary Wharf, or even that she wasn't from this universe. She was just glad he was good at his job as the lift descended, the duration of the trip letting them know there was more than your normal floor between the shop and their destination.

"Welcome to Torchwood," the lift announced a moment before the doors opened.

"Pity the reception isn't as friendly as the lift," Rose sighed as they found themselves the targets of handful of armed guards. "Right," she addressed the group as she stepped out the lift, clapping her hands together (softly as not to get any trigger happy soldier a jumpy finger squeeze) and giving them a smile, " if you lower your weapons now none of you will be hurt."

Riley instinctively took a step back into the cover of the lift. He'd learnt from the month or so's experience travelling with her that no one listened to that threat. He'd also learnt that it wasn't idle.

As the guards cocked their weapons, Rose sighed, shaking her head softly. "Anyone got a stopwatch?" she asked. When none came forward she sighed again, "I won't be happy if this breaks my record with no evidence," she told them. And then she began.

If you'd asked her sixteen years ago if she thought she'd be able to do something like this, she would have laughed before taking another bite of a chip. These days she was just somewhat disappointed she couldn't do it to Equilibrium's standards yet. That's when she was being cocky of course. When she was being honest she'd tell you that her ability to disarm five men with guns as quickly as she did was a combination of a little bit of skill, a lot of practice, a dash of experience, a healthy dollop of denial on their part, in that they didn't believe she was at all capable of doing what she stated. Oh and a truckload of luck!

If she ever came across the same group twice she'd probably be screwed, but thankfully once you've done something like this, it took a while before you were tested again, and then they usually wanted a one on one. One on one's weren't nearly as complicated.

She knew she was distracted from the task at hand, but she also knew that was kind of necessary. If she thought too much about how grabbing two men's guns and pushing them back, then using them pushing the guns back towards her as momentum to pull them through and headbutt each other, she probably wouldn't get it done. As it was the two closest to the lift were now lying in a heap behind her, she'd just knocked the next with a roundhouse kick, bringing her leg down to the one behind his ankles to sweep him off his feet. Finally dropping into the splits, she drew her arm back before looking up at the last man standing. "Do you **really** want me to finish this move?" she asked him, raising one brow.

As predicted, he dropped his weapon as both hands covered his nether regions.

"Works every time," she smiled as she caught the weapon and got to her feet. Throwing the gun back to Riley, she surprised the others by offering them hands up, just pulling them up after a moment of waiting for them to decide if it were a trick or not. "Right so I'm Rose Tyler of Torchwood One, where's the top dog in this place?" she told them by way of introduction, and then changed her mind. "Actually scratch that, just take me to the alien," she told them.

She could tell they were deciding whether or not to do as she said when an elderly gentleman walked in. "I think you'll find I am the 'top dog' and you'll need my permission to see anything beyond this point."

It was obvious he took his job very seriously, and Rose might have too, if it hadn't been for the young girl who chose that moment to barge past him and stopped only a couple feet from her, almost jumping up and down in her excitement. "Is it finally safe to go out?" she breathed.

Rose frowned at her. "Well I know shops can sometimes seem a bit scary, especially when there's readily available caffeine to the shopping hordes, but yeah I'd say so." Glancing at her wrist console she shrugged slightly, "And as for going out at night, next Wednesday through Friday might be a wee bit risky 'cause of the full moon, but other than that you've just got men in kilts to worry about." As the girl frowned at her, Rose's suspicions were becoming firmer as she cast her gaze onto the elderly gentleman once more. "How long have you been down here?"

"Seventeen years next Tuesday," the girl replied, her frown evaporating into a smile once more.

"Seventeen years?" Riley exclaimed, but Rose bit her tongue as she rose an eyebrow at the man, waiting his explanation.

"We were put on red alert," he said simply.

"What camp?" Rose asked, looking at him with a bemused expression.

He frowned at her. "Do you find danger alerts funny?"

"No, I've actually had to deal with more than a few mauve alerts. Red alerts are usually fun though," she replied, her face going serious once again.

"My dear I think you'll find the international colour for danger is red," he said in a tone that implied he thought of her as little more than the girl standing between them.

"And I think **you'll** find that Torchwood is a universal corporation and as such goes with the universally recognised mauve rather than Earth's red," she replied, folding her arms as she did little to hide her smug look as his face went the colour in question.

Deciding she would rather leave Pete to deal with jerks like him, she pulled out her phone and pressed the speed dial for his office.

"You won't get a signal in here," the man told her, and Rose could tell he was desperately trying to get the upper hand once more.

She just sighed. "Wanna bet? Jiggory pokery goes a long way," she told him before turning her attention to her phone as Pete answered. "Hey, it's me. Haven't completed stage one yet, but initial findings aren't good. We're going to need a team in to integrate the staff back into society."

"What does that mean exactly?" Pete asked warily.

Rose gave an apologetic smile even though she knew he couldn't see here. "Yeah, minimum seventeen years," she responded, wanting to display how efficient her team was to the man, hoping Pete would catch up quick.

"They've been holed up in there for over seventeen years?!" Pete bellowed, causing Rose to cringe, though she couldn't help a small smile as the man did as well.

"Yup. Can you send in a team? I haven't even gotten past reception yet," she answered. She could see Pete resting his forehead on his palm as he massaged his temples with thumb and middle finger in her mind's eye. She waited patiently as she heard him typing a minute later, pacing in a circle as she scanned the room.

"They'll be there in half an hour," he told her finally, snapping her back from wherever her mind had suddenly wandered. "Can we just pretend that this is the only bad thing and anything else that goes wrong...well we'll deal with tomorrow?"

She turned so the others couldn't see her as she murmured, "Bad day?"

"Had better," he replied sighing. "Don't worry, just go through the base thoroughly and give us a call when you're done yeah?"

Rose sighed too, hating that she didn't know all the details of what was going on in her family's lives. "Will do boss," she said loud enough for the others to hear before hanging up. "The team'll be here in twenty, now if I can see the alien," she said with a voice of such authority that even Riley, who knew her as well as any could, shivered.

"I'll need--"

"No, you won't," she cut off the old man. "I'm busy and this has taken up far too much of my time as is, now show me the alien!"

He glared at her, but began walking down a passage. She followed, as did Riley and two of the soldiers. She wished she could feel happy for small victories like this, but they'd long ago lost almost all meaning. There was a job to do so she did it. Her absence hadn't yet changed that.

"It's humanoid," he barked as they walked, "found him in the spaceship we shot down in 2005."

Rose frowned. "2005?"

"Yes Miss," he said in a way that Rose knew he was insinuating he didn't think it possible for her to possibly have a husband. "Nearly missed it, was flying over Cardiff during that huge earthquake."

"The one just before Blaidd Drwg was cancelled?" she asked as adventures of long ago slipped through her mind.

He frowned as he looked over his shoulder at her. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," she replied with a wry smile.

"_Blaidd Drwg," the words sounded more beautiful when the Doctor said them._

"_What's it mean?" Rose asked._

"_Bad Wolf," he replied, still frowning._

_Her own worry was growing as she replied, "But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf, I've heard that __**lots**__ of times."_

"_Every where we go two words following us – Bad Wolf."_

_His calmness was starting to freak her out more. "How can they be following us?"_

_His serious look remained for moment longer before a wide grin spread across his face. "Na just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day."_

_Rose could have throttled him for scaring her so much._

"_Never mind things to do," he continued off handedly, clapping his hands as he made his way back across the room. "Margaret, we're going to take you home."_

"_Hold on isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?" Jack protested._

"_I can't believe it," Rose beamed, ignoring Jack's comment. "We actually get to go to Raxi.." she trailed off at the difficulty of the word, causing the Doctor to look heavenwards. "Wait a minute," she scolded him before giving it another attempt. "Raxicorico--"_

"_Raxacoricofallapatorius," the Doctor told her for the millionth time as she faltered._

"_Raxacorico," she said slowly, taking steps towards him on the syllables._

"_Fallapatorious," he finished for her, wondering if this might just be..._

"_Raxacoricofallapatorius," she said before squeeing, flinging her arms in the air._

_The Doctor did as well before grabbing her in a tight hug. "That's it!" he exclaimed._

"_I did it!" she squealed hugging him tightly back._

"She's just being modest," Riley drew her back to the present. "If luck was all it took, then I'd say Tyler was Fortuna herself."

"I've been known to bare a resemblance to her from time to time," Rose murmured, thinking of Genies and Rome.

"_There you are," Mickey said. He was grinning like a dog that had just fetched her a stick._

_Jackie gasped. "Oh my god, I don't believe it!"_

_Rose gasped too. In front of her was a perfect stone replica of herself! And according to its sign, it was nearly 2000 years old._

_Once Rose had recovered from the initial shock, she got quite excited. "It's brilliant!" she said. "Do you know what this means? We must be off to," she checked, "Second secondary Rome! How brilliant is that?"_

"_Blimey!" said a voice from behind. "Reminds me of a girl I once knew." The Doctor had caught up with them and gave Rose a smile that could probably melt even a marble statue._

_Jackie was reading the sign under the statue. "Here, it says it's a statue of the Goddess Fortuna," she said._

"_Fortuna, Roman goddess of good luck," the Doctor told her._

"As I said he's humanoid, or rather has taken on human form," the old man continued.

The small smile that had been playing on Rose's lips faded as she frowned at him. "What do you mean it's taken on human form?"

"Looks human, sounds human, even the organs are where they should be."

"Then how do you know he's not?" Riley asked the question that plagued Rose.

"Just a couple differences in the DNA," he replied. "He almost escaped once. Had a weapon hidden in the most extraordinary place."

"_You've gotta be ready, Rosie," Jack told her._

_She giggled at him. "You can't be serious Jack!"_

_He raised a brow at her. "Nine times out of ten they'll do a strip search, you've gotta have a back up."_

"_If I've got to resort to that, I think I'll go weaponless," she retorted, poking her tongue between her teeth._

_He just smiled. "Don't worry, you're more likely to come across male soldiers, and women are never weaponless against a male soldier," he replied with a wink._

"You've gotta be ready," Rose said softly, causing the man to give her an odd look.

"Here we are," he said as they came to a glass window in the wall. There was a woman sitting at a desk on their side of the glass who the man gave no acknowledgement to, though she did return the smile Rose gave her.

Rose stepped in front of the window and couldn't help but gasp. It was him, years older and completely unexpected, but him none the less.

He looked that little bit older, with hair longer than she'd ever seen it, though not really all that long. What was it, nearly fifteen years since she'd last seen him? And yet she still found herself physically attracted. She knew he was a complete charmer and then she paused in thought. No, she told herself sternly, she didn't know him at all. All she did know was he looked like and more than likely was this universes version of none other than Captain Jack Harkness!

Her eyes shimmered as she watched him doing press ups. Yes his muscles seemed more defined than ever, but this was more due to how much less he appeared to weigh. He seemed paler too, as though it had been years since he'd last been out in the sun, and it was with anger that Rose realised this was probably true.

Seeming to know he was being watched, he jumped to his feet, giving them all a charming smile which caused Riley to frown though Rose couldn't help smiling back.

"Isn't that a one-way mirror?" Riley asked.

The old man nodded. "It seems Mr Harkness either has an acute ability of knowing when he is being watched, or the difference in DNA allows him to see through it. We have been unable to determine which as yet."

"And I guess asking would have just been too difficult," Rose murmured sarcastically, shaking off her anger quickly before continuing. "Right, I'm going to need a bottle of champagne, two champagne flutes and the wrist console he came in with," Rose said, deciding it would be better to get this over and done with sooner rather than later as she tried ignoring the now visible scars on Jack's chest which were probably part of the 'determining' process.

The man glared at her. "I'm going to ignore the fact you seem to think we keep alcohol on the premises and ask how can we trust you're not in cohoots with Mr Harkness since I didn't mention any wrist console!"

"Well one, don't ignore anything I say or mock my intelligence by pretending you don't have champagne on the premises, I haven't come across a base without a stock of the stuff yet! Two I'm not in cohoots with Mr Harkness because no one has used the verb cohoots for about 20 years, but you'd know that if you'd had the balls to go outside in the past couple decades to check! It couldn't have been the cybermen you feared because I was there when they were sorted, and it was further back then that, so my guess is that it was Torchwood One being taken over and you secured this base in case the same might happen here. You're the top dog of the base so holding all these personnel down here unnecessarily falls on your shoulders, but I'm going to let Pete take care of that.

As for your alien? One, he's not alien, he's actually human. Two, yeah I know you're going to point out the DNA thing," she said holding up her finger to silence him just as he went to mention it, "but last time I checked, aliens taking on human form couldn't hold the form for twenty years straight. You would have noticed something by now! Four...no three, you're going to go do as I say now because otherwise I **will** find a way to make the next twenty years of your life a living hell, and believe me I don't make idle threats. Oh and five, add some food to my order."

Turning her back on him, she faced the window again, taking a deep breath and leaning her head to each shoulder in turn to loosen it up as she listened to him storm off to do her bidding. She'd forgotten how good it felt to just yell abuse at someone who deserved it. Feeling a lot more relaxed than she had all day, she glanced over at Riley, giving him a small smile, which he returned, though raising his brows at her.

"Tyler this is Jake, do you read me?" a voice sounded over her radio, causing her smile to widen.

Pulling it out it's pouch, she half sang, "Oh Jakey boy hearing your voice is a dream come true...over," she added as an afterthought, knowing it wasn't entirely necessary when they bantered over the comms.

She could hear the laughter in his voice as he replied, "Aww did you miss me sweetie?"

"Not so much miss as have some important work for you to do...well I say important, more like tedious...well I say tedious, more like..." she trailed off, releasing the button as she smiled.

"'The shit you couldn't be bothered doing' the description you looking for?" he asked, but she could tell he didn't mind too much.

"Something like that, where are you?"

"Waiting in reception."

"What are you doing a silly thing like that for? Get your ass over to the alien containment so I can brief you," she scolded good naturedly.

"You heard her boys, triple time!" he said over the radio just for her enjoyment before murmuring, "Did I pick up on some sarcasm there?"

She smiled as she listened to a couple seconds of his teams boots pounding before he released the button. "Course not. Here at Torchwood we pride ourselves on being able to take twenty years to prove a human isn't alien," she replied

He frowned at her as he jogged around the corner, two soldiers from the base lagging behind him and his team as they gulped for breath. "What do you mean it takes twenty years to prove a human isn't an alien?" he asked, breathing slightly harder than normal but otherwise fine.

She glanced at the window, watching him as he turned to face it.

Apparently bored of his watchers not paying him enough attention, Mr Harkness had gone back to exercising. They watched him go from doing jumping jacks to jumping up and grabbing a bar attached to the roof of his cell and begin doing chin ups.

"Who's Jumping Jack Flash then?" Jake asked as he raised a brow.

Rose couldn't help but smile as his choice of words.

_There was a knock on the TARDIS door, and Rose couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she watched Jack rip it open._

"_Who the hell are you?" he asked, keeping the door closed against him so Rose couldn't even see Mickey._

"_What d'you mean who am I? Who the hell are you?" she heard Mickey reply, and she had to bite her lip to stop from laughing as she switched the controls the Doctor had instructed her to._

"_Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying!"_

"_Get out of my way!" She heard the door being pushed open, but kept her head down as she forced herself to stop giggling._

"_Don't tell me, this must be Mickey," she heard Jack say as he closed the door, letting her know she better turn around._

"_Here comes trouble, how you doing Rickey boy?" the Doctor called from up his ladder._

_Mickey glared over at him. "It's Mickey!"_

"_Don't listen to him, he's just winding you up," she told him, glad her boys had given her enough time for her giggles to fully subside before Mickey looked at her properly._

"_You look fantastic!" he told her before they shared a tight hug._

"_Ah, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack whinged from the other side of the console._

"_Buy me a drink first," the Doctor replied, and Rose couldn't help wonder if she was imagining the hint of annoyance in his voice, and if not, what was causing it?_

_She pulled away from Mickey as Jack retorted, "You're such hard work."_

"_But worth it!" the Doctor replied, the smile back in his voice._

"_Did you manage to find it?" she asked, smiling as Mickey pulled her passport from his pocket._

"_There y'go," he said as he passed it over._

"_I can go anywhere now," she told the Doctor with a huge grin._

_He frowned back at her. "I told you, you don't need a passport."_

"_'sall very well going to Platform One and Justicia," she spoke, flipping through the blank pages before looking back up at him, "and the Glass Pyramids of San Kloon, but what if I end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see I'm prepared for anything," she finished, smiling and poking her tongue between her teeth._

"_Sounds like you're staying then," Mickey grumbled. There was an awkward moment as he stared at her, and she glanced nervously at the Doctor. Mickey followed her gaze before looking back at her and forcing a smile. "So what are you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell is Captain Jack Flash?" he asked glaring over at Jack. "I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with Big Ears up there--"_

"_Oy!" the Doctor protested._

" _Look in a mirror," Mickey told him before turning back to Rose. "But this guy," he said, looking over her shoulder at Jack warily, "I don't know. He's kind of--"_

"_Handsome?" Jack interjected before Mickey could finish the sentence, his charming smile returning in an instant._

"_More like cheesy," Mickey sneered._

"_Early 21st century slang," Jack spoke, clearly trying to remember the information, or at least pretending to, "Is "cheesy" good or bad?"_

"_It's bad," Mickey answered so quickly he almost spoke over Jack._

"_But bad means good, isn't that right?" Jack asked with a smile._

_Before any of them had a chance to answer, the Doctor asked, "You saying I'm not handsome?" as he climbed down the ladder._

_His question went unanswered as well as Rose turned back to Mickey. "We just stopped off - we need to refuel. Thing is Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. Its invisible, but its like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."_

"_The rift was healed back in 1869," the Doctor declared with a grin, as Rose took over._

"_Thanks to this girl named Gwenyth. 'cause these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it," she told him proudly._

"_But closing a rift always leaves a scar and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race--"_

_The Doctor took over the story from Jack, "...but perfect for the TARDIS. I just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and--"_

"_Open up the engines, soak up the radiation," Jack took over once again._

_Rose jumped in as Jack paused for breath, "Like filling up with petrol and off we go--"_

"_Into time," Jack exclaimed, high fiving the Doctor._

"_And space," the Doctor and Rose declared, high fiving._

_The desperate look of confusion as he'd tried to keep up with their explanation finally left Mickey's face as he forced himself to look at them with distaste. "My god! Have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?"_

"_Yeah," the Doctor replied enthusiastically._

_Rose shrugged, "Y__eah!"_

"_Yup," Jack chipped in slapping Mickey's cheek for good measure. Without a word the three simultaneously headed for the doors, leaving Mickey to tag behind._

"_S__hould take another 24 hours which means we've got time to kill," the Doctor told them as he locked up._

"_That old lady's staring," Mickey told them, nodding his head towards the woman._

"_Probably wondering what four people can do inside a small wooden box," Jack replied, clapping the Doctor's shoulder as the three of them laughed._

_Mickey scowled at them as Rose moved from his side to between the other two men. "What are you captain of? The innuendo squad?"_

_Jack just made a 'W' with both hands in response._

Rose wondered if this man would be anything like the one she once knew. Judging by the flirtatious smile he threw them every once in a while, she guessed there would be at least a few similarities. "Officially I'm not sure, but he looks like someone I knew before..." she trailed off.

Jake looked over at her. "What like Mickey..." he trailed off too.

"Yeah," Rose quickly filled in. She knew she wasn't the only one that had lost someone they really loved. She went on to cover the void. "I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but should be able to figure it out pretty quick if he's anything like Jack."

"That's his name," the woman at the desk spoke up, causing them to jump having forgotten she was there.

"Sorry?" Rose asked, turning to face her.

The woman quickly bowed her head, softly mumbling, "Mr Harkness, his name is Jack."

Rose scrubbed her face with her hands before running them through her hair. "Great, like the world really needed two Captain Jack Harknesses," she mumbled softly to herself, before a smile crossed her face. No, two was too many, but none was too few, so having one here might be just right.

"Do you know him?" the woman asked, frowning slightly, having only heard Rose's last words.

Rose looked at her again. This could get interesting. "If he's the man I think he is, then yes, he's an old ally," she said, deciding it was as close as she could get without giving away too much. "Umm when you found him, he should have had this wrist console?" Rose asked hopefully.

The woman nodded, quickly making her way to a nearby safe. A few minutes later she returned with the item. She stared down at it, then Rose, appearing to suddenly realise she might not be able to trust her.

Rose sighed, she was hoping to have been in there before this had time to settle in. "Look, you can trust me," she told her with a smile. "The weapon he had hiding up his," she paused, seeing the woman blush, she continued, "Yeah, it looks like those metal fist things nasty fighters wear yeah? But with...like...what you'd expect if you had a pistol squashed flat with a short barrel yeah?" Rose smiled as the woman nodded. "It's called a Compact Laser Deluxe. Only Jack's changed the settings.. He used it to hold someone hostage right? Probably fired a shot at one of your computers?" The woman nodded once more. "Thing is, it was all a bluff."

Now the woman shook her head. "How can you know that? He could have killed her!"

"That's the thing, he couldn't have," Rose quickly told her. "If you hid a weapon where he does, would you really have it so it could do damage to you?"

The woman frowned, clearly having never thought about this. "But he destroyed the computer--"

"It only works on mechanical objects. Fire it at any living organism and...well it's as useful as flashing a torch at them," Rose told her. "Honest, you can even test it on me," she told her, nodding towards the safe.

After a moment, the woman headed back to the safe, obviously going to retrieve the weapon.

"Do we really have time for this?" Jake murmured in her ear.

"I need them to trust me. I don't wanna end up in that cell for twenty years," she answered him. She smiled holding her hand up as the woman looked at her, holding the weapon. "Just aim directly for my palm."

The woman took aim, but didn't fire as she looked at Rose with just a bit of fear, her glance moving to the four soldiers that worked with her. Their faces mirrored her disbelief, as did those of Torchwood One who didn't know Rose.

"It's fine, just fire," Rose told her, with just a hint of impatience.

The woman finally did as she was told, shrieking slightly as the beam hit Rose's hand.

Rose just twinged slightly. "Tickles," she smiled, holding her hand out for the woman to inspect. "See? He's actually harmless...well mostly harmless...just never leave him alone with a spaceship, it'll never be the same again," she added with a smile thinking of the poor TARDIS as the woman giggled.

Knowing she had gained the woman's trust, she realised she hadn't even introduced herself. "Sorry, I'm Rose Tyler of Torchwood One, and you are?"

"Martha Latimer of Torchwood Two," she replied smiling.

Rose smiled back, forcing herself not to pull her nose up as memories of Mickey's Martha flashed through her mind. "And that isn't a Scots accent," Rose replied, forcing the memories out as she took Jack's wrist console from her, hoping she would remember how to do this.

"No, originally from England. But my grandfather..." she trailed off as the top dog arrived back, an assistant tagging along with the champagne and food. "Sir," she said crisply, giving a quick nod before turning to her seat.

"No, Torchwood's not run by very strange men or psychotic women," Jake murmured in her ear as she placed the the wrist console on the table and pulled out one of her toolkits.

She glared at him over her shoulder. "You better be talking about my predecessor."

"Course," he chirped out a bit too quickly, though with a cheeky grin that made her smile.

"Good, I'd hate to have to retcon you Jake," she replied.

"Promises, promises."

She just rolled her eyes. "Right, while I take care of Mr Harkness, you and your team go through a 75-55 scan followed by 20Y Rehab," she told him, her voice of authority returning.

"Geez, how long you planning on _taking care_ of him for?" Jake asked, raising a brow.

Rose glared at him for a moment, just long enough for him to know better than to question her orders, then smiled, letting her tongue poke between her teeth, "Long as it takes," she told him with a wink, then headed inside the cell as he tried to hold in his laugher.

**Before I forget – flashbacks are from Boom Town, Stone Rose (the audiobook so might be slightly different from text (though SO very good listening to DT read it!! And his versions of the others voices!! Hilarious!!), my own creation, and another scene from Boom Town.**

**And the Coppuccino booth really is there in Glasgow...think I've got a photo of it somewhere. Lol and (as far as I know) there isn't a hidden Torchwood base in the...whatever bookstore it is there...though the Starbucks was a godsend...even if I couldn't afford the Scotland mug at the time :(**

**Oh and in case you couldn't guess, which I'm sure you all did, Jake is the Jake that was dating Ricky, you know the one, he pointed out the lift in Doomsday...anyway. Also Riley is based on Buffy's Riley (needed a name and an face for the character while I was writing it, and he just suited the part ;))**

**And yes I know TECHNICALLY 'top dog' might not be quite so willing to do Rose's bidding as he is...well not so much willing as just doing them (cos we all know he isn't willing!) but would you REALLY want to mess with a woman who single handedly took out five armed guards? Let's just put it down to him being a coward yeah?**

**Oh and yes, Martha Latimer is named for her grandfather's adventure with a Martha we all know and love...bearing in mind I'm using the term 'love' VERY loosely there!!**

**And now that I've rambled your ears off, hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know by reviewing, means the world!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**No intro, just straight into it...**

"Captain Jack Harkness I presume," Rose spoke as the doors sealed behind her.

Jack looked up from where he was lying on the bed, a smile crossing his face as he watched her placing the champagne and food on the table. "And who might you be?" he asked as he hopped to his feet to shake her hand.

"Rose Tyler," she answered, forcing herself not to hug him. He looked even more like her Jack close up. "Shall we get down to business?" she asked, pouring two flutes of champagne and passing him one.

He eyed the glass, sniffing the contents. "This isn't business, this is champagne," he told her, raising a brow.

She smiled back. "I try to never discuss business with a clear head," she replied, downing the glass and pouring herself another. Last time it had been his looks that had made her feel calm enough to drink, this time she was drinking so she was calm enough to look at him.

He nodded appreciatively. "Me neither," he told her before following suit. "Cheers," he declared, extending his second glass to hers.

She gave a small nod before clinking glasses. After a moment, her eyes looked hungrily at the food, trying to remember the last time she'd had a proper meal. "Do you mind?" she asked indicating towards it.

"Not at all, after all you are the one who provided it," he replied as he watched her sit down and wolf down a bread roll before looking through what other food had been provided. "Geez, don't they feed you here?" he asked, eyebrows raised as she continued eating.

She eyed him, trying not to blush as her hunger consumed her. "You tell me, I've only just arrived."

"Not usually this well," he answered, sitting down and helping himself.

A few minutes later Rose sighed, feeling fuller than she had in months. She finished off her drink and placed the glass gently on the table as she leaned back in her seat, aware that Jack was watching her every move. She delved her hands into her pockets, retrieving his weapon and wrist console and placed them on the table between them. "So, what can you tell me Jack?" she asked, leaning back relaxed in her chair.

Jack glanced at the two items before eyeing her warily. "You tell me," he replied.

"Tell me something I don't know," she said almost pleadingly. _Tell me Time Lords exist here, or that you really are the Jack I once knew. That you and the Doctor made it through somehow, she thought desperately._

He frowned at her, folding his arms across his still bare chest as he lent back in his seat. "How bout you tell me what you know first."

Rose sighed, not so much in exasperation as disappointment. He really was a different man. She tilted her head back taking a deep breath. "Well you're not alien, human like the rest of us. Well...like the rest of us will be in a few hundred years," she began, standing and pacing the room. "You're a conman that likes to think of himself as a criminal. You're very flexible when it comes to...dancing," she couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips, instead turning away from him to try hide it. "And now you probably think I work for another agency beginning with T that isn't Torchwood, even though I don't. Oh and you think what you're doing now is going to help you escape, but it isn't," she finished, turning back to face him, to find he'd put the wrist console back on and held the weapon as she'd expected him too. "It's just going to piss you off really," she added shrugging.

He just smiled at her charmingly. "Now that's where you're wrong. This is _definitely_ going to help me escape," he replied.

"Wanna bet a hyper vodka on that?" she asked, raising a brow.

He just laughed as he opened the console and began pressing buttons. The smile quickly faded as he frowned at it. "What the hell!" he seethed as nothing happened. "No one knows how to operate this but me!"

"Told you it'd just piss you off," Rose teased.

"Tell me what you've done!" he yelled, pointing the weapon at her and taking a few steps forward to the centre of the room.

She just raised an amused brow at him, shaking her head softly.

"Don't think I won't hurt you just because you're a woman," he said, still glaring at her.

Rose marched forward, stopping when she was right in front of him. "You make a threat like that, you better be prepared to follow it through. See, if you don't stop pointing that at me ... I really will hurt you."

She could tell he was trying his best not to smile because she was too. It felt like a minute, but was probably a few seconds, then she shrugged and left hooked him, his weapon sent flying by the shock.

Jack returned in kind with a right hook.

"That's gonna leave a mark," she quipped before ramming her fist into his stomach, not entirely surprised when he half laughed as she stepped away. A moment later she was bent over having just received a kick to her own stomach.

Jack stuck his tongue out at her, opening his arms out invitingly before smiling cheekily.

Not one to turn down an invitation, Rose ran at him meaning to knock him over, but he was ready for her, moving and grabbing her in such a way that sent her falling to the other side of the room. Not even fully landed, she rolled onto her knees, unable to hide the evil glint in her eye.

Jack had a right hook waiting for her when she stood, but she returned it with two of her own before he grabbed her arm and began jabbing her in the stomach.

Rose crouched low, getting in closer before flinging her head back, connecting with his chin and sending him flying backwards.

He went to kick her as she advanced, but she grabbed his leg, rotating it and sending him flying to the floor.

The fight went on, fast and furious and, as much as she hated to admit it, completely exhilarating. There was just something primal about it, something she'd never felt during another fight, and she was loving it!

It was only as she spotted the mirror after another blow that she remembered she might have an audience. She sighed knowing she was going to have to draw this to a close.

Taking advantage of her pause, Jack grabbed her from behind, one arm wrapping round her chest to shoulder, the other grabbing her gun from her leg holster, drawing it to her temple. "Never a good idea to stop for a breather in the middle of a fight," he growled into her ear, sounding disappointed that it was over so soon.

"Nor to misjudge a bluff," she purred back, grabbing the hand with the gun as she bent forward, sending him flying over her. He landed firmly on his back a moment before she landed on his hips, pistol now pointing directly at his heart.

As the frown Jack had warn from the pain dissolved into a charming grin once more, her own smile at victory turned into a frown.

"Ugh Jack!" she whinged, pulling herself off his own protruding pistol.

"What?" he asked innocently, trying to hold her down, but too late as she stood over him, pulling him up roughly.

There was a knock on the cell door and Jake poked his head in. "Sorry to interrupt," he told them with a coy smile.

Rose glared at him. "We were fighting!"

"Didn't look like fighting," Jake replied, wiggling his brows.

"Didn't feel like it either," Jack added from behind her.

She glared over her shoulder at him. "Oh go have a cold shower!" she scolded before turning back to Jake, forcing herself not to react to Jack's chuckling.

When he mumbled, "Only if you join me," in response, she decided to stop denying herself the reaction, shooting her elbow backwards into his stomach, a smile crossing her face once more at the sound of his groan. "As you were saying Jake?" she asked as though the last thirty seconds hadn't happened.

Jake on the other hand, was covering his mouth to hide his own laugher.

Rose raised a brow at him. "Don't think I won't do the same to you," she told him warily.

"Promises, promises," he replied as always, before he grew serious once more. "Looks like there's another alien down here."

Rose frowned. "Alien as in human alien or alien as in an actual alien alien?" she asked.

"Alien as in they won't even let us see it alien. Apparently they think of it as space junk 'cause they were all prepped to sell it in private auction before they sealed shut."

Rose's frown deepened.

"_Can you believe that? Fifty years of being sold from one collection to the next, never even thinking what it might be capable of!"_

"Show me," she replied, marching out the room.

"So guess I'll see you back here when you're ready for a rematch," Jack called after her.

Rose turned back. "You're free to go Jack, you're not an alien threat," she told him before marching back out.

"That doesn't stop me from being a threat though," he retorted, following her.

She rolled her eyes. "Let's see, you have no weapons, you have no ship, and right now you barely even have any clothes! At this point mouse spit sounds more threatening."

"Mouse spit?" Jake asked as he walked beside her.

"Not Earth mouth spit...I don't even think Earth mice _can_ spit," she added, before shaking her head at its unimportance. "Let me guess, top dog has a problem with us seeing his prized possession?"

"Top dog who gets snippy if you call him anything but Mr Hartman, yup."

Rose frowned again. "Any relation to Yvonne Hartman?"

"I'd say so, but haven't been able to confirm," Jake replied.

"Jack why are you still following us?" Rose asked without turning.

Jack looked up surprised, not realising she'd noticed. "Oh welll umm--"

"Just stop it," she cut him off as they reached Mr Hartman and his team. "Mr Hartman, I believe you've got another alien for me to check out?" she asked, looking bored and not just a little annoyed.

"What the devil happened to you? And why's the prisoner loose?" he asked, looking incredulous.

Rose groaned. Her adrenaline was still pumping so the aches and pains of the fight hadn't settled in yet. She could only imagine what her rough and tumbled appearance would look like. "He's no longer a prisoner Mr Hartman. We have no jurisdiction to hold humans prisoner, even if they're in possession of spacecraft. The other alien?" she prompted, very much tired of his company already.

"Right...right," he said frowning, apparently having given up on not letting them see it. He opened a large sealed door and escorted her in. "It's really quite harmless. Other than occasional screams it's been quite dormant," he spoke almost proudly.

"Screams?" Rose asked almost horrified. But as he flicked the lights, she felt a terror and loss like she never had before, or at least not in the last ten years. There, in the middle of the room, just like in Utah, was a chained up Dalek. She backed to the wall behind without thinking, one hand's fingers clawing at it as though trying to scrape her way out while the other went instinctively to the pendant around her neck, her eyes remaining transfixed on the alien.

"Can you identify it Miss Tyler?" Mr Hartman asked, seemingly amused by her sudden turn in confidence.

"Rose, that thing, it's..." Jake trailed off as he went to her. "It can't be, can it?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder at it once more.

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing herself to get a grip, even if it was only by the skin of her teeth. "Jake get everyone out of here. If you don't hear back from me within half an hour, seal the base completely," she told him, her eyes never leaving the Dalek.

"But Rose--"

"JUST DO IT!" she yelled at him, her eyes blazing.

"You heard her! Out!" Jake yelled, getting back in action, forcing everyone out.

"And Jake," she said softly as he hustled them all through the door.

He turned, giving her a smile that let her know he knew she hadn't meant it.

"If I umm don't make it, tell--"

"Tell them yourself," he cut her off. "I've seen what you can do Rose Tyler. One of them isn't about to stop you," he told her grinning as he squeezed her shoulder before turning back to the crowd. "Didn't you hear me? I said MOVE!!"

Rose couldn't help but laugh, wanting to point out to him he'd said 'out' but deciding against it, instead telling him to radio her when the base was empty. Then her eyes fell on Jack, who was staring at her. "That includes you Jack."

"I'm not going anywhere. Those things aren't meant to exist!" he told her, pointing at the Dalek.

"Yeah well, I've seen a lot of the impossible in my time," she replied walking slowly towards the creature that had haunted her nightmares for so many years. She made her way around it slowly watching for any sort of response, though none came.

She made her way back to the computer she spotted in the opposite corner to the door. It didn't take long to find the surveillance and she watched as different areas of the base were evacuated. Seeing the last few making their way to the reception, she turned back to face him. "This is your last chance Jack. If you don't leave now I can't guarantee your safety."

"I'm not going anywhere," he repeated firmly, folding his arms to prove his point.

Rose sighed, but nodded her acceptance.

"Rose, they're all out, I'm about to hop in the lift, over," Jake's voice came over her radio.

Rose pulled it out. "Roger that. Next time don't take so long," she quipped.

"Like to see you do it faster. Good luck. Out."

She watched the lift doors close before heading back to the Dalek. "Hello?" she asked tentively. "Dalek, are you still alive? I'm here to sort this out…hopefully for the last time."

"Yes," it stated simply.

"Right, still alive, there goes that hope," she mumbled, before speaking up once more. "How did you get here?"

"What is the meaning of this question?" it replied.

"How are you in this universe?" she clarified. "Daleks don't exist in this universe, how did you get here?"

"What is the meaning of this question?" it repeated.

Rose sighed exasperated. "Okay, in a parallel universe to this one Daleks existed yeah? But they don't in this one. How did you get from that one to this one?"

"You lie! Daleks are supreme, we exist in all universes!" it screeched at her.

Balling her hands into fists, she gritted her teeth. "No, you don't. Look, I'm going to charge you back up so you can see alright?"

"Rose no!! You can't, those things--"

"I know what I'm doing Jack," she cut him off. "You had your chance to leave, now let me do what I have to." Turning to face the Dalek once more, she slowly reached out a hand, touching it for only a moment, her hand still burnt.

"Genetic material extrapolated – initiate cellular reconstruction!" it screeched, and they watched as it broke the chains that bound it.

Rose bit her lip, hoping she was doing the right thing. "Okay, now plug yourself into the computer, it'll show you everything," she instructed.

The Dalek eyed her before doing as told, ramming into the screen. Electricity coursed through it and it wailed as the peeling metal bent back into shape, the rust fading away, leaving what looked like a brand new Dalek in its place. After a few long minutes it withdrew. "I have been searching for the Daleks," it told them.

"Yeah? And what did you find?" Rose asked as though she didn't already know.

"I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes," it continued.

"And?" she asked again, shoving her hands deep in her pockets.

"Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?"

Rose could feel Jack's eyes on her, but she kept her gaze on the Dalek. "I told you, there aren't any Daleks here."

"Where are they?" it asked.

She swallowed hard once more. "Dead."

"You lie!" it screeched once more, aiming its laser at her. "Exterminate!"

"Rose!"

"Stay back Jack!" Rose yelled, her gaze focused on him as the Dalek fired three shots, not one hitting her. Knowing he was going to stay put, she turned back to the Dalek. "You can't kill me can you?"

"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose!!" It fired off a few more shots, all as effective as the first three.

"What're you waiting for then?"

"I feel your loss," it replied, as surprised as you'd ever hear a Dalek sound.

"Daleks tend to bring it up yeah," she choked out, feeling her eyes burning.

"Daleks do not feel! Must not feel!" It fired off another set of beams. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't just regenerate you. You absorbed my DNA. You're mutating."

"Into what?"

"Something new...I'm sorry, it was the only way." At that moment Rose hated herself. Not for bringing the Dalek back, not for helping it, but for actually feeling truly sorry for being the one to kill it. Despite everything they'd done, all the pain and loss they'd caused her, she still hated to be the one to kill this one.

"I can feel so many ideas. So much darkness...Rose...give me orders! Order me to die!!"

Rose gulped. She'd ordered the first Dalek she'd met to die. The next half a million and one, including the Emperor, she turned to dust with the Time Vortex. And then there were the millions that she helped send back into the void. So really she'd killed a fair few Daleks in her time. And yet she still wanted to show this one mercy, to let it live.

"I shall not be like you!! Order my destruction!! Obey! Obey! Obey!" it yelled, sick of waiting for her to do as told.

"Do it," she mumbled at last.

"Do you grieve, Rose?" it asked suddenly.

Rose nodded before choking out, "Yeah."

"So do I," it replied, before it gave one last feeble, "Exterminate."

Rose took a few steps back as it elevated into the air and the golden knobs detached themselves, surrounding the Dalek in a perfect sphere. The Dalek glowed briefly, and then exploded inside the sphere, vanishing into nothing.

Jack stared at the place where it disappeared, stunned, not noticing the single tear that ran down Rose's cheek, though he did notice her marching out the room.

"Where are you going?" he called as he hurried after her.

"Home...well not home, just away from here. I suggest you do the same," she replied, tossing an item back at him.

"What the?" he frowned looking at it.

"Battery of your wrist console, I trust you remember how to put it back," she stopped turning to face him once more. "Good bye Captain Jack Harkness," she spoke confidently, forcing a smile, before turning on her heal once more and continuing to the lifts, pulling her radio out as she did. "Jake, it's all clear. Sorry but I'm leaving you with the clean up again."

"Roger that. Told you you could do it," came the reply, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "You gonna be around long enough for farewells?"

"Sorry, I'm already gone. Out." She finished as she stepped into the lift, glaring as Jack stepped in after her. "I believe I said good bye Jack."

"Yeah well, I didn't," he replied with a charming grin.

"Are you following me?" she asked, raising a brow.

His smile grew as he nodded, "Yeah."

She sighed deeply. "Just go back to your ship and go home Jack," she told him firmly.

"Can't. Don't know where the valet parked it." His smile was becoming infuriating as she held her emotions in check by a thread.

"There's an emergency teleport on your wrist console," she told him slowly, as though he wasn't smart enough to have figured it out himself. "Now are you gonna stop following me?" she asked as they stepped out onto the roof.

"I don't think so, no," he replied, looking out at the view of the city.

"Well I do," Rose retorted, grabbing his arm and pressing the combination that initiated the teleport.

"Hey!" the word was barely out before he disappeared.

Sighing, Rose sat on the ledge, letting her head flop forward. It was for the best. If today had shown her anything it was that despite all the time that had passed, memories still tore through her like steel blades.

As the first sob racked through her, she longed for the man that had consoled her last time she'd ordered a Dalek to die.

**Hope you enjoyed it. The fight scene was from the lovely Captain John/Jack fight, which I'd only just seen before writing this (shows how long this has been waiting to be posted!) and mouse spit is all Beck's fault! Please review, they make my inbox happy ;)**


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